Developer Buys Old Williamsburg Motel

The owner of Williamsburg Motor Court on Richmond Road is selling the motel to an Orlando, Fla. developer who plans to replace it with a Yankee Candle store and three restaurants, the developer said Friday.

The sale of Williamsburg Motor Court -- next to Olive Garden and across the street from Sno-To-Go -- is contingent on the developer's ability to get City Council approval, since the Yankee Candle store will exceed the 50,000 square feet floor space permitted by the city.

The ground floor will take up 45,000 square feet, but the building will have a second floor for storage and offices, said Robert Singley, Jr. of RJS & Associates, the Williamsburg firm brokering the deal between the candle company and Maple & Main Redevelopment, LLC.

Singley would not say how much the developer is paying for the land. The land is worth $1.8 million, according to the city. Maple & Main will invest an estimated $15 million, the company said.

Yankee Candle, based in South Deerfield, Mass., features candles, Christmas items and home decorating products. The restaurants have not been finalized, but one or more will be national chains, Singley said.

Motel owner Hunter Vermillion is also selling the Best Western Williamsburg on Pocahontas Trail and Route 199. An attorney with Kaufman & Canoles representing the buyers of that property said he could not comment on the plans for the 20 acres.

The Williamsburg Motor Court, more than 60 years old, is among the last bungalow-style motor courts in Williamsburg. Escalating land prices are leading owners to sell the properties, said Vermillion, who is also the president of the Williamsburg Hotel & Motel Association.

"When a lot of the old motels in Williamsburg were built, land was not selling for what it sells for now, so they could afford to build a small hotel or a single-story hotel on it," Vermillion said. "The motor court, in our mind, has always been a real estate deal and not a hotel deal. It had too much other property around it and the property was too valuable to support a 29-room hotel."

The motel will remain open while the developer seeks zoning, architectural and site plan approvals from the city. The motel's two employees were told it could close in August, housekeeper Greg Dayton said.

Vermillion's family bought the Williamsburg Motor Court in 1987. The bungalows appealed to patrons looking for a bargain, but visitors said the place has deteriorated rapidly in just the past year. A handful of the rooms are closed because of termite infestation and other problems.

Herbert Hemingway of Elizabeth City, N.C., pulled up to the motel with his wife Friday to stay the weekend.

They said they returned to the motor court for a third year because it was cheap, secluded and allowed smoking. They left their room door open because of the "funky" smell.